Thursday, March 7, 2013

Mary Cost and Architectural Abstractions

I was sitting at a table, drinking an Izze soda (I had already had a chai tea latte that day at another coffee shop and couldn't go for a second round), and was delighted to watch a woman enthralled by the tapestries. She was holding her coffee (and frankly I was afraid she was going to spill it all over her shoes as she wasn't paying any attention to it), stumbling along between the tables and people looking up at the tapestries. People do find tapestry fascinating if we can just show it to them!

Morning, 55 x 33 inches

Note: This tapestry was hanging high on the wall thus the photograph makes it look narrower at the top. It is actually rectangular.

Mary also used to study with James Koehler. Her work has changed and grown significantly over just the last couple years. I think these recent architectural works are stunning and I hope she considers weaving something really large one of these days. I think it would be gorgeous.

So Mary Cost is out there in Santa Fe making sure people see her tapestries. Lets go see them! Her work is beautiful and though the walls are not well-lit, the coffee shop is bright and you can see the work (if you can get by the people--the place was packed by the time I left!). She is represented by La Mesa of Santa Fe.

Sherri, Yes, I think Mary uses boards with velcro. I used the word slat because her boards are thinner than the 1 inch ones I use, but they are thin boards with (I think) velcro attached. If I'm wrong, I'll let you know! I'll ask Mary when I see her again.

The tapestries look great in this environment! I have been considering a coffee shop exhibit again. All that loose fluid makes me a bit nervous, but this looks so tapestry-friendly, I think I will contact my favorite coffee shop and take the risk! Why not? The woven folk have been begging to be let out from their secure storage space!